Indigenous Jumma Peoples Speak on the CHT Peace Accord

312 Pages·2011·0.88 MB·English

Philippine Indigenous Peoples and Protected Areas: Review of Policy and Implementation
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HOPE
and
DESPAIR
Indigenous Jumma Peoples
Speak on the Chittagong Hill
Tracts Peace Accord
Published by
with support from
Jumma Peoples Speak on the CHT Peace Accord i
Hope and Despair: Indigenous Jumma Peoples Speak on the
Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord
Copyright © TEBTEBBA 2010
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without the written permission
of the publisher.
The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect
those of the publisher.
Published by:
Tebtebba Foundation
No. 1 Roman Ayson Road
2600 Baguio City, Philippines
Tel. [phone] Tel/Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.tebtebba.org
Authors: Raja Devasish Roy with Pratikar Chakma, Prof.
Mong Shanoo Chowdhury and Mamong Thuai Raidang
Editors: Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Dr. Raymundo Rovillos and
Prof. Ruth Tinda-an
Copy Editors: Raymond de Chavez and Dr. Raymundo Rovillos
Assistant: Marly Cariño
Cover Design, Lay-out and Production: Paul Michael Q. Nera
and Raymond de Chavez
Printed in the Philippines
by Valley Printing Specialist
Baguio City, Philippines
ISBN: 978-971-0186-05-1
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HOPE
and
DESPAIR
Indigenous Jumma Peoples
Speak on the Chittagong Hill
Tracts Peace Accord
Jumma Peoples Speak on the CHT Peace Accord iii
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview .............................................................................. 6
By Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Acronyms ............................................................................. 16
An Appraisal of the Peace Accord and the
Political Institutions in the Chittagong Hill Tracts ............ 1
By Prof. Mong Shanoo Chowdhury
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord &
Provisions on Lands, Territories, Resources
and Customary Law ............................................................. 115
By Raja Devasish Roy with Pratikar Chakma
Grassroots Impacts of the CHT Accord
(1997 to 2009) ........................................................................ 177
By Mamong Thuai Raidang
Jumma Peoples Speak on the CHT Peace Accord v
Decade Assessment of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts Peace Accord: An Overview
By Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Executive Director, Tebtebba
Former Chairperson, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Where there is no Hope, Let us create Hope.
- Albert Camus
The involvement of Tebtebba in the peace and development initia-
tives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts dates back to the year 2000,
when I, together with Professor Raymundo Rovillos, then a gradu-
ate (PhD) student and volunteer research coordinator of Tebtebba
and now the Dean of College of Social Sciences at the University
of the Philippines Baguio, favorably responded to an invitation
by indigenous leaders and organizations in CHT to conduct a
benchmarking study of the post-Accord situation of the indig-
enous peoples in that region. The results of this study would be-
come the basis of sustained solidarity engagements between
Tebtebba and the indigenous peoples’ organizations of the CHT.
Part of the study was published by Tebtebba; a material entitled
The Road to Peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh (2000).
The case of the CHT Peace Accord was later included in a global
comparative study on peace and conflict resolution that was un-
dertaken by Tebtebba and its partner indigenous peoples’ organi-
zations from 2000 to 2002. This collaborative study culminated in
an International Conference on Conflict Resolution, Peace-Build-
ing, Sustainable Development and Indigenous Peoples which was
held in Manila from December 6-8, 2000. Most of the papers that
were presented in this conference were later published by Tebtebba
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into a book, entitled Reclaiming Balance (2002) which I co-edited
with Ms. Joji Cariño.
The Peace Accord that was signed in 1997 by the Bangladesh gov-
ernment and the Partbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti
(PCJSS) formally ended the more than two decades of armed con-
flict in Bangladesh. With the signing of the Accord, hope was
renewed among the Jumma peoples that they will eventually live
in peace and dignity. Unfortunately, these expectations have thus
far been derailed by many documented violations like torture, kill-
ing and arson that have taken place in the CHT after the Peace
Accord was signed.
In 2003, I went for a fact-finding mission to Mahalchari upazila
under the Khagrachari Hill District after it was burned on Au-
gust 23 of that same year by Bengali settlers. I saw what remained
after more than 350 indigenous Jumma households belonging to
14 villages under five mouzas were looted and burnt to ashes. It
was reported that more than 100 houses of the Jumma peoples,
including four Buddhist temples, one UNICEF-run primary school
and several shops and statues of Lord Buddha were destroyed
and ransacked. Ten Jumma women were reported to have been
raped by the Bengali settlers. However, we did not manage to talk
with any of these rape victims because they were too scared to
talk with anybody. This experience further made me realize how
fragile the peace was in the Hill Tracts. Any small incident where
a Bengali has been harmed by an indigenous person can be mag-
nified and used to mobilize irate Bengalis to just go and burn
many Jumma communities. What is even more worrisome is that
the military, themselves, are clearly supportive of such actions.
Six years after, in 2009, I visited Bangladesh again as part of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission and as the Chair of the United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). This
was the third mission of the Commission and this visit was aimed
at gathering more information about alleged human rights viola-
tions, as well as to assess how far the implementation of some of
the provisions have gone. This mission held high-level meetings
with the Prime Minister and concerned Ministers, the CHT Land
Commission and the Law Commission. Meetings were also held
Jumma Peoples Speak on the CHT Peace Accord vii
with brigade commanders, senior police officers, political parties,
indigenous peoples’ organizations and civil society representatives
and interviewed victims of human rights violation. The delega-
tion did field visits in Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari
Districts, interviewing and holding discussions with both indig-
enous peoples and Bengalis, including victims of human rights
violations and forcible land grabbing. I was not able to take part
in the field visits and the meetings with some of the high level
officials.
I took part in the later interviews and dialogues together with
Lord Eric Avebury, the Chair of the Commission. We talked with
representatives of various political parties (BJP, Awami League,
PCJSS, Communist Party of Bangladesh, etc.) and indigenous
peoples’ organizations and NGOs. We talked with Shantu Larma,
the head of PCJSS and the Chairman of the CHT Regional Coun-
cil. This time, Awami League, which was the government when
the CHT Accord was negotiated, was back in power so we were
more hopeful that there would be major changes in terms of how
the Accord will be implemented. When the Awami League won
the elections in December 2008, they pledged to fully implement
the CHT Accord and to secure the Jumma peoples’ rights. Hopes
were raised high for the satisfactory implementation of the Ac-
cord.
What struck me whenever I visited the region and the country
was the firm belief of the Jumma peoples that only the implemen-
tation of the Accord can bring about a long and lasting peace to
their land. Unfortunately, at every turn the barriers in achieving
this elusive peace seem to get stronger and more complicated. The
Awami League undertook some steps towards meeting the pledge
they gave. It set up of the National Committee for Implementa-
tion of the CHT Accord, reestablished the Land Commission and
the Task Force on Rehabilitation of Returnee Jumma Refugees and
Internally Displaced Persons. Plantation leases that have not been
properly developed were cancelled and some temporary military
camps were dismantled.
Over the years, the indigenous peoples’ in the CHT, their sup-
porters throughout Bangladesh and the international network of
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